Asiana Wins!

I have a new least favorite airline. I guess that means I can start flying Delta again. Asiana takes the cake for meanest airline. This comes as a surprise to me, since Korea supposedly sets the standard for airline service.

I guess I'll start by mentioning that I am still in Los Angeles. It's Saturday. I was supposed to leave on Thursday, if anyone is counting. On Thursday, the Continental agent who booked my flight called Asiana to confirm my seat, since his coworker mentioned that they were quirky. Later on, Bobby called Asiana to find my baggage, and said that my baggage was set to fly with me on Friday, the 27^th.

Fast forward to Friday. I waited in the check in line, only to discover that my reservation had been cancelled. The shift manager put me on standby. I waited patiently. I watched other people get kicked off the flight. One group of young adults showed up at 12:15 and were booted. I was not aware of this, but Asiana will kick people off a flight if they show up less than one hour before the flight leaves, which in this case was 12:10. Had I known LAX well and rushed to my gate, I probably still would not have made my flight on Thursday. In a normal airport, 1.5 hours is plenty of time to make a transfer, but LAX sets the bar.

Anyways, someone came to me at 12:20 and told me that they were not accepting standby passengers. I got a little belligerent. I said, “but you cancelled my flight!” The manager came out and proceeded to yell at me: “we did not cancel your flight! We waited for you!” Perplexing, considering that I tried to check in on time, but I guess he was talking about Thursday. I hope he loses his job.

I went back to Continental, at which point the customer service rep got peeved on my behalf. She said that Asiana has been canceling reservations all week. I saw a woman who had her reservation canceled on Thursday, so I guess it was my turn. She also mentioned that she saw space on the flight I had just been denied, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't let me on. Maybe they didn't like the way I looked. (Pregnant woman, flying alone...where's her husband? I may not have mentioned this yet, but if I had no husband, I would have been denied treatment at most Korean hospitals) . Continental put me up in yet another airport hotel and confirmed me on a flight for Saturday. When I got to my room, I called Asiana to ensure that I was actually on a flight for Saturday. The agent told me that there had been no ticket number attached to my reservation—a technicality that was not noticed by either of the Asiana people I spoke to on Thursday, and absolutely Asiana's fault—and confirmed that I had a ticket number for Saturday. Apparently, if there is no ticket number attached, a reservation will be cancelled.

Since I saw people kicked off the flight I was waiting for, I can only assume that Asiana was again overbooked. It looks like they overbooked all their flights for the weekend, and were looking for a reason to boot some people. If someone had apologized profusely to me and offered me something nice, like an upgrade, perhaps I wouldn't feel so abused. As it is, I hope Asiana gets bought out and everyone who works that counter is fired.

Who's a bigger villain, LAX or Asiana?

My journey home has been extended by 24 hours. As I sit here in the airport Radisson after a full night's sleep, I find it hard to get too agitated about the whole thing. Traveling is tiring, doubly so since I've been getting over a cold, so the break isn't entirely bad.

It started when I landed at LAX. I flew Continental from Houston (from Kansas City, from Charlotte). When I landed in the terminal, I tried to find my flight to Seoul on the screen. No luck. Though my boarding pass said Continental—no gate assigned—the screens had only Continental flights, and none to Seoul. I wandered around for a bit and tried to find someone who could help me, with no luck. All of the counters with people behind them had long lines of boarding passengers. I searched the signs and tried to find a more general area, or directions to another terminal, with no luck. There are a couple of areas ironically marked “information,” with no people, no maps, no general “departures” screens, and only a few paltry markers that say things like “restaurants” and “restrooms.” I finally made it to the United area, where I found what I assumed was my flight on the screen. It had a different number, but the same departure time. As it turns out, the Continental flight became a United flight that was actually operated by Asiana. Under gate, it said “TBID.” TBD? I thought maybe it didn't have a gate. I searched around the boards for some kind of key that would decipher the letters—no luck. I wandered around the United area for awhile. I tried to find a map of the airport—no luck. There was a map of the terminal that said that United and Continental flights left from there, so I figured I could hang around the terminal. I sat down for a minute, then headed for the international part of the United terminal. I searched the gates for awhile. I tried to find an agent to help me—no luck. Finally, I found a person behind a counter who wasn't boarding passengers. I asked, “what's TBID?” She told me that it was the Tom Bradley International Terminal. She told me to follow the signs that said “ground transportation”--who would have guessed?--and catch bus A to the terminal. I was rushing at this point, and I followed a sign to a dead end. I got on the elevator, since the lady told me to go to the ground level, and pushed 1. The elevator wouldn't go. After some frantic mashing, I pushed 2 and ended up on the right floor. I rushed out the door and searched for the A bus. I found it, travelled to the International Terminal. My flight left while I was waiting in the security line.

I went to the Asiana counter pretty visibly upset, and told the lady I had missed my flight. There was another lady at the counter who had been on my connector and missed the same flight. Thanks, LAX. The Asiana lady asked me why I had missed my flight, and I told her I couldn't figure out where to go. She told me that this was my fault, and to come back at 7:40 (it was a little after 1) and get on standby for the next one. Then, just to kick me a little, she said that I would owe whatever the price difference was. I asked if I could find another flight through Continental, since that's who I booked the flight through. She told me to come back at 7:40, then left.

After a few false starts, I found my way to the Continental counter. A nice gentleman there put me on the same flight the following day, and even got me back on a flight to Daegu. This was not without some toiling, and I was very grateful to him. There was no discussion of fault and no extra charge. As it turns out, the nighttime Asiana flight that I was supposed to go on standby for was overbooked. I could have waited around the airport for 8 or 9 hours, only to get the same result. I found a Traveler's Aid desk in the arrivals area, where a very kind lady found me a room at the Radisson. I am showing a bit, so people tend to be nice to me. The Asiana dragon lady's coldness stood out against the kindness of everyone else I dealt with, especially since I went to the Asiana counter after having run around the airport with bags.

So I'm not share who gets the lions share of my wrath: LAX or Asiana. It's a toss up. Los Angeles, congratulations on having the least traveler friendly airport in the world. I'll try not to be here again. Asiana, well, I wrote a complaint. You need to give your people customer service training.

(where I got this: http://www.zazzle.co.nz/i+hate+lax+cards)

Fun in Kansas

*Okay, I am posting this now, but I wrote it a week ago.  NC was wonderful, and I realized how much I miss it and my family.  Here's Kansas:

I'm back at the airport after an eventful two weeks in Kansas. I had actually planned to catch up on my writing during my training, but I spent most of my time in class, recovering from the time difference or out. Yes, out. In Leavenworth, Kansas. I met a fun an interesting group of people in training, and we spent a lot of time exploring Leavenworth. There are some fun restaurants around town, and I spent some time designated driving people around. Fort Leavenworth is actually an interesting place. It's got a lot of history, complete with monuments and plaques. It's also got the big military prison, or USDB, which we didn't even get close to, and a big federal penitentiary. The old USDB is now a bunch of offices and a pretty good restaurant.

So, as usual, I got much more out of the people I met in training than the actual training. There were several young US civilians, like myself, with less than five years of experience under their belts. At work, I am the youngest person by about fifteen years, so it was wonderful to share ideas with people from my generation.

Over the weekend, I went to Kansas City with my closest friend who just got engaged, where I again found myself designated driving. We saw an art museum, a zoo, and went to a fantastic restaurant called Beer Kitchen. I am told that Beer Kitchen has wonderful beer cocktails. I spent a lot of time wishing I was a man, so I could both drink and have children. Oh well! I guess I was making up for all those times that I wasn't the designated driver.

And now I'm off to Charlotte for a short stint with my parents.

Cheers!

Happy (late) Mother's Day

I'm at the tail end of a four hour layover in Incheon Airport, one of the best airports I have been to. Case in point: at the moment I am in the free wifi lounge. Wifi in airports is a common amenity, free wifi is not. I would also like to take a moment to thank Korean airlines. I have had some crummy experiences with airlines, and none of them were with Korean air. I have never had a flight delay the entire time I have been here, which is remarkable. In my last two years in the states, I had one flight cancelled because the plane was elsewhere, another cancelled because the plane was grounded by the FAA, delays for broken plane parts, delays because we were “waiting on the plane,” if you can think of an error in airline service that would cause a delay or cancellation, I have probably had it. As I was flying into Incheon today, I noticed that there are quite a few Korean Air planes in a plane parking lot. Viola! Korean air has enough planes in its fleet to pull planes out of rotation, give them proper maintenance, not fly one plane 8 times a day, and probably even provide a substitute if one plane doesn't arrive. Just a suggestion, US Airways: be more like Korean Air!

Alas, far more and better lines of text have been devoted to failures in United States air service than I can write. I wanted to mention Korean Air, and Asian air service in general, to note that it doesn't have to be that way. When I book trips here, I assume that the plane will be on time and I can make my connection. I can never assume that in the states.

In other news, happy Mother's Day! I can't top my post from last year. Or can I? Okay, full disclosure just shy of the recommended 12 weeks—I'm pregnant. 11 weeks so, to be exact.  My mother lost her mother this year, and she will gain a grandchild in November. And so the world turns. I am wondering how flying long distance will mesh with the almost-gone morning sickness that I struggled with weeks five through nine. Don't worry, I won't tell. Wish me luck!

Happy Zoo Busking

Last weekend, we went to the Seoul Zoo. We were pretty unhappy with the gulag-like Daegu Zoo, and we haven't visited an Asian zoo since. I did my research, and the Seoul Zoo looked legit, so we have been meaning to go.

The weather has finally warmed up a bit, and we decided to take advantage of it. We were not disappointed. A KTX ride to Seoul Station and subway ride to the Seoul National Park took about 2 hours and 15 minutes, and we got to the zoo a little after noon. On the walk between the subway station and the park entrance, here were ajummas selling rice cakes, gimbap, and bugs. There were about six of them at intervals on the walk up, and they all sold the same things. This lack of product diversity is a Korea thing that I can't understand. I don't know why the first one on the walkway didn't get all the profit. Most street fairs I have been to are much like this. There are about four different types of booths, and they all sell identical products.--the toy booth the same toys, the snack booth the same snacks, etc. If you walk 100 yards into the fair, you have seen everything.

The zoo was a kilometer away from the subway stop, and for lazy people there were a tram and a sky lift to choose from. We took the tram in. We strove to see the entire zoo, and we were successful. People gathered around the elephant and lion habitats, but we had a more interesting time at the less visited side exhibits. Bobby made a few friends. He has an inexplicable way with animals, and he actually called some of them to him. A three toed night monkey came right up to the glass opposite Bobby and peered at him. Another monkey played games with him, moving his head around and stamping his feet. Going to the zoo is never boring when Bobby is around.

Like every zoo, the Seoul Zoo had some great exhibits and some depressing ones. There was a lemur habitat in which the lemurs ran between two cages on ladders that hung over public walkways. We speculated that the lemurs must poop on several people a day. There were majestic silver wolves anxiously pacing in too small cages. Overall, we had a good time, and dang it, we saw the whole thing. The trip ended, as they always do, with Bobby wishing he worked in a zoo. Someday...

Tiger statue at the entrance

I love meercats

Usually I can tell what the English signs are trying to say, but this time I have no idea

One of Bobby's friends.  Once Bobby pulled out the camera, he lost interest.

A peacock gives us a show

Sky lift out of the zoo